By Daniel Johnson of UN News
GENEVA (IDN) – United Nations agencies are working round the clock to provide all the necessary aid to vulnerable sections of the society to combat the Coronavirus pandemic at diverse levels: ensuring meals to millions of children affected by the closure of schools, airlifting relief to Sudanese refugees in Chad.
Also, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that for the moment, there is no reason why people infected with the COVID-19 virus should not take ibuprofen, a widely available drug used to treat fever and soreness.
Michael Lynk, UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) has warned that the large-scale epidemic would put “enormous strain” on Gaza. This has made it even more important that Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank get protection from infection, Mr. Lynk has said.
A UN-appointed independent rights expert has urged Governments to ensure that in addition to looking after people’s health in the face of COVID-19, they also protect their right to freedom of information.
Ensuring humanitarian support to millions
Humanitarian actors are gearing up to find solutions for vulnerable communities hardest-hit by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including millions of children missing out on meals now that their schools have closed, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on March 20.
Because of the pandemic, up to 300 million primary schoolchildren are vulnerable, WFP spokesperson Elisabeth Byers said in Geneva.
“Nearly 30 countries where WFP implements school feeding programmes have so far reported partial or countrywide closure of school. This means that nearly nine million children are no longer receiving WFP school meals, and that number is set to rise in coming days and weeks.”
Ms. Byres said that for many children, school was the only place where they received a square meal. To ensure that they continue to receive assistance, WFP plans to deliver rations for the whole family.
Racing to assess emergency needs, ensuring supplies continue
Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, has said that it is working round the clock to ensure that aid supplies continue to reach those in need.
Some 100 million people require support globally in war zones or other emergency settings.
Many live in cramped conditions and with limited or no access to proper sanitation or basic health services, OCHA’s Jens Laerke said:
“The world needs to continue support for the most vulnerable, including through UN-coordinated humanitarian and refugee response plans. To stop COVID-19 anywhere, it must be stopped everywhere. If we do not break transmissions worldwide, the virus could cycle back to countries who thought they were safe.”
Ahead of the likely launch of a COVID-19 global humanitarian response plan, Mr Laerke said that the way aid is distributed may have to change to prevent the spread of infection.
This will likely include banning relief distribution points, where many people gather for food or other assistance, and finding alternatives.
Airlift flies relief to Sudanese refugees in Chad
Finally, to Chad, where the UN refugee agency UNHCR has airlifted 93.5 tonnes of emergency aid for Sudanese refugees in Chad, it has announced.
Clashes in El Geneina in Sudan’s West Darfur State since last December have forced more than 16,000 people to flee violence and cross into neighbouring Chad.
Spokesperson Andrej Mahecic said that the refugees who are mostly women and children “are staying in open or makeshift shelters, with little protection from the elements”.
He added refugees are being relocated further away from the borders for their safety and that shelter, food, water and basic health care were urgently needed.
The UNHCR-chartered jet landed in the Chadian capital N’Djamena on March 19 evening with thousands of essentials, including blankets, jerrycans, mosquito nets, solar lamps, as well as one ambulance.
(Listen to audios by Daniel Johnson of UN News: https://news.un.org/en/audio/2020/03/1059882 and https://news.un.org/en/audio/2020/03/1059772
UN health agency does not recommend against using ibuprofen
The World Health Organization has said that for the moment, there is no reason why people infected with the COVID-19 virus should not take ibuprofen, a widely available drug used to treat fever and soreness.
In a statement, the UN health agency said that it was aware of concerns on the use of such anti-inflammatory drugs.
But after what it called a rapid review of scientific literature, the WHO said it was “not aware of published clinical or population-based data” on the topic.
The agency said that it had consulted with physicians treating COVID-19 patients and was not aware of reports of any negative effects of ibuprofen, beyond the usual known side-effects that limit its use in certain populations.
On its website, the WHO advises against people self-medicating and notes in particular that anti-biotics will not work against the viral infection, as they only target bacterial illnesses.
On March 18′, the agency announced that clinical trials involving western and traditional medicine are under way and that the results would be made available as soon as possible.
Israel has ‘legal duty’ to ensure that Palestinians in OPT receive essential health services
The COVID-19 outbreak has made it even more important that Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank get protection from infection, a senior UN-appointed independent rights expert has said.
Michael Lynk, UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) that a large-scale epidemic would put “enormous strain” on Gaza.
In particular, it threatens to overwhelm the enclave’s health workers, who have struggled to respond to three major military offensives in just over a decade and treat thousands of casualties from the “Great March of Return” protests.
In a statement on March 19, Mr. Lynk insisted that Israel – as the occupying country – along with the Palestinian Authority and Hamas – all “bear the duty to provide essential health services and apply public health measures throughout this pandemic” without discriminating.
He noted that warnings about the virus issued by the Israeli Ministry of Health were almost exclusively in Hebrew, with virtually no information posted in Arabic.
This issue had been addressed after protests, but Palestinians face many other problems, including significant restrictions on their movement, the Special Rapporteur said.
In the context of COVID-19, where patients’ conditions deteriorate rapidly as symptoms become more severe, any delays getting to hospital can be fatal, he warned.
The situation in Gaza is particularly important, Mr Lynk continued, with malnutrition and non-communicable diseases on the rise, dense living and housing conditions, and an elderly population without access to proper nursing care.
‘No justification’ for information restrictions by Governments during coronavirus outbreak
Finally, a UN-appointed independent rights expert has urged Governments to ensure that in addition to looking after people’s health in the face of COVID-19, they also protect their right to freedom of information.
In a joint appeal with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, UN Special Rapporteur David Kaye underscored the need for people’s access to accurate information about the health threat.
Governments should also refrain from blocking internet access, Mr. Kaye said, insisting that “broad restrictions…cannot be justified on public order or national security grounds”.
In addition to supporting the work of all journalists, the rights experts also called on Governments and internet companies to address disinformation in the first instance by themselves providing reliable information.
That could come in the form of public messaging, public service announcements, and emergency support for public broadcasting, the experts suggested. [IDN-InDepthNews – 23 March 2020]
Photo: Collage of UN pictures (left) Violence in West Darfur has forced thousands of Sudanese across the border into Chad. ©UNHCR/Aristophane Ngargoune and (right) A woman wearing a protective mask and gloves checks her phone while walking along the East River in New York. UN News/Elizabeth Scaffidi.
IDN is flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate.
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